Garden Oaks Maintenance Organization (GOMO) is a Texas non-profit corporation based in Houston.
The purpose of GOMO is to further the common interests of owners of sections 1, 2, 3, & 5. These include but are not limited to the enforcement of deed restrictions, collection of assessments and promotion of health, safety, and welfare of residents and the land.(Adapted from Articles of Incorporation 9/27/2002)

Meeting Change Announcements

Special Business Meeting Set

A replacement meeting for the June Business Meeting has been set for July 12 at the Garden Oaks Professional Building.
Meeting time: 7:00 PM
Place: 4001 N. Shepherd DR Suite 216AGENDA

Architectural Control Committee Plan Review Location Change

The August Plan Review scheduled for 6:30 pm August 1 has been moved from the Elementary School to Grace Church at 3754 N. Shepherd Dr. We have moved the meeting to allow attendees to also attend the Civic Club Meeting where Judge Emmett will be speaking.

GOMO Can No Longer Fund Constable Patrols and Neighborhood Beautification

GOMO reviewed and adopted a budget for 2017 at its business meeting held August 17th. Major changes from prior year’s budgets include the elimination of spending of “Surplus Funds” as required by the bylaws for FY 2016-2017. These funds have been used for neighborhood related items such as Constable Patrols and Neighborhood Beautification. In practical terms, this means that next year Garden Oaks will lose the two Constable Patrols funded by GOMO (cost $153,500) and Beautification funding (cost $20,000). These steps were taken as a result of the outcome of the Section 3 garage lawsuit. While the lawsuit found GOMO to be improperly formed only with respect to the homeowners in the lawsuit, out of an abundance of caution, GOMO decided to place all transfer fees and other income received after the judgment date, June 8, 2016, into a separate account. GOMO appealed the ruling and is confident that the appeal will establish that GOMO was and is properly formed and that it has the authority to enforce Deed Restrictions and collect Transfer Fees. However, until such time, GOMO will limit spending to deed restriction enforcement and operating expenses. Due to its contractual obligations with Harris County, GOMO will continue to fund the two Constable Patrols until February 28, 2017.

Litigation Update Section 1 Subdivision of a Lot

The case involves a duplex (allowed in section 1) that was subdivided into two unique properties in 2007. GOMO’s lawsuit against this action was successful in the trial court but was overturned on appeal. The case was remanded to the lower court for resolution, which was issued on April 19, 2017.
THE ISSUE: By subdividing 523 W. 30th into two unique lots, (now 523 W. 30th and 525 W. 30th), two lots of 37’6” frontages were created, violating the minimum 75’ frontage as required in Section 1 deed restrictions, (paragraph a- Architectural restrictions.)

CASE BACKGROUND

1979 the duplex was built.

Early 2007 the owner of the lot subdivided it into east and west halves and transferred ownership of the east to Moses Ramos and the west to Paul Perez.

February 2007 GOMO sued Ramos and Perez (i.e., the owners of both the east and west lots that formerly made up Lot 15) to bring those subdivided lots into compliance with the deed restrictions. The two cases were combined.

October 2009 the combined case was resolved when Ramos represented that he had recombined the two lots. At that point, GOMO thought that this issue had been fully and finally resolved. However, the east and west units of the duplex had evidently been financed separately by different lenders. When the borrowers defaulted, both loans were foreclosed, and the east and west units were sold separately at the resulting foreclosure sales. The foreclosure sales effectively subdivided Lot 15 once again, splitting the property into east and west halves, with each unit of the duplex residing on a separate subdivided lot.

2011 GOMO initiated suits against both lenders who sold their interests resulting in different owners for the East and West halves of the original lot.

Late 2011 GOMO sues the owner of each half of the subdivided property in two separate proceedings, claiming violation of the 75’ minimum lot frontage deed restrictions. In the case against the owner of the west half of the lot, the trial court found in GOMO’s favor, issuing a permanent injunction in May 2014 that required the owner to use all reasonable efforts to rejoin the west and east halves of the property.

2014 Owner of the western half appeals verdict.

2015 GOMO filed an injunction against the eastern half of the duplex lot to have the owner use reasonable efforts to rejoin the lot.

June 2016 The appellate court reverses the trial court’s judgment finding that the owner of the western half of the lot did not violate the deed restrictions because he had not “erected” anything. (see Architectural restrictions, section 1, paragraph a.)

April 2017 Agreed Judgement Order Signed- Both Elbar and SWE suits are ended

Legal Spending.
Current spending on all the related suits from 2006 to 2017 inclusive of appeals is a little over $30K with approximately a third of this coming at the appeals stage.

Conclusion/Way Forward
GOMO will enforce the prohibition to erect on any lot having less than the required frontage.

Litigation Update Section 3 Garage

The Board of Directors for GOMO is composed of three elected directors for each section. The directors meet twice monthly to review building plans and enforcement actions.Unless otherwise noted: Plan Review/Special Meetings(if needed) 1st Tuesday - Garden Oaks Montessori Elementary 6:30 PMPlan Review/Business Meetings 3rd Wednesday - G.O. Professional Bldg. 4001 N. Shepherd Dr. ste. 216 7:00 PM Owners are welcome at these meetings and are encouraged to bring their questions about building projects early in their planning.

Section 3

Section 5

If you are interested in being a director for your section, contact any of the directors listed above or email GOMO for detailed qualifications and procedures. Directors serve three year terms with one up for election or re-election each year at the Annual Meeting of Members. You can download a copy of the Nomination Form if you are interested in running for GOMO and wish to see what the requirements are. You may use this GOMO General proxy to gather votes.